“It’s the one-hour rule,” Moch explains, adding that the reason venture capitalists place so much of their life sciences focus to California and Massachusetts is because they are based there. North Carolina has to coax the venture capitalists out of that bubble – and that’s where the “one man with a vision” comes in.

He explains it in a different way: “We have a lot of kindling,” he says, pointing around the room to the talent at companies such as Furiex (Nasdaq: FURX), Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Aerial BioPharma. You just need the right person with the right strategy to light the match.